Eric Heitmann Could Miss 2011 Season Due To "Nutcracker" Drill
One of the current issues going on with the NFL lockout is a highly debated topic amongst players, coaches, and fans. No matter what side of the fence you are on, here is a story that may make you change your mind.
Eric Heitmann, starting center for the San Francisco 49ers from 2004-2009 except for two games in 2006 when he broke his leg, may miss the entire 2011 season due to recent neck surgery. Heitmann missed the 2010 season after he broke his left leg, but two days prior, he took a shot to the neck that he tried to play with until the leg injury.
You may be saying to yourself, so what? The NFL is a dangerous sport and there are hundreds of injuries every season. It’s inevitable.
But the neck injury came during a drill in training camp that has a former San Francisco 49er coach under some scrutiny.
Mike Singletary, known for his no nonsense style of coaching, had his lineman participating in
a drill called “The Nutcracker” in which two players are lined up across from each other and collide with such force so that one of them wins by getting the most leverage. Of course, this is what football is all about, but when you see your players dropping like flies out there following this drill, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate it. I mean, I never claimed to be an NFL coach, but I am a coach of common sense and common sense tells me it may be time to try something new.
According to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle, Heitmann felt a twinge in his neck following the drill and has now forced him to go under the knife and have neck surgery to repair it. As mentioned before, this was not an isolated incident.
Other 49er players that were injured during this drill were linebacker Patrick Willis (ankle), cornerback Tarell Brown (toe) and center David Baas (broken foot) with injuries, according to the report.
So what does this have to do with the lockout?
Well, players are asking for less off-season work and less padded practices during training camp and through the week during the regular season. When you look at the amount of players that go on IR, you have to side with them on this one. In this day in age, football is a 24/7 365 a year job. These players are constantly training for the next game or next season and never seem to let their bodies heal as much as they should. With all of these OTA’s and mini-camps and two-a-days, players are getting worn down to the point where many of them land on the season ending IR before the season is complete.
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